He exhaled. “And you know what it means to be with me?”
“I’ll be with Madison too.”
He chuckled. “Sort of, yes.”
“I know what it means, Charlie. I’m up for it.”
“Oh my God. You just made me so happy.” His voice cracked a little, warming my insides.
“Were you worried?”
“Hell yes, I was worried. I mean, no—what am I saying? No, not at all. I knew you couldn’t resist me for long.”
I smiled, letting relief sink into my bones. “So now what?”
“I’ll tell her. Tonight, if possible, how’s that?”
“Tonight?” I was surprised he didn’t need more time to prepare. “Wow, that’s fast.”
“I’ve had ten days to think about how I’d approach her. I’m ready. And I don’t want to wait anymore. I miss you.”
“I miss you too, and I don’t want to wait, either.” We were quiet a minute. “Call me as soon as you can, OK?”
“I will. Are you busy tomorrow?”
I thought for a second. “No, it’s a vacation weekend, since Martin Luther King Day is Monday. I gave the kids the weekend for family.”
“Good. I’ll call you in the morning, OK?”
“OK. Goodnight.”
“Night.”
We hung up, and I tucked my knees under my chin, wrapping my arms around my legs. I was glad he hadn’t told me he loved me again, because I didn’t want to say it to him for the first time over the phone. If all went well, maybe I’d be able to say it to his face tomorrow. Closing my eyes, I said a quick prayer that the talk with Laura would go smoothly.
I had no idea what I’d do if it didn’t.
#
My phone rang at nine-thirty the next morning.
“Hello?” I croaked.
“Hi, beautiful. Did I wake you?”
“Mmm, that’s OK.” I normally didn’t sleep so late but it had taken forever to fall asleep. Snuggling back under the covers, I turned on my side. “How are you?”
“Fantastic. I spoke with Laura last night.”
“You did?” That opened my eyes all the way.
“Yes. I drove over there last night as soon as we got off the phone.”
“How’d she take it?” My heart was beating hard.
“First she said she already knew something was up.”
I gasped. “How?”
“Hell if I know. She’s got that female radar that just knows things, I guess. Anyway, she took it better than I thought. It was a very long, heated discussion, but eventually she agreed to give. She just asked to meet you before I introduce you to Madison.”
“I understand.” But my stomach curdled at the thought of having to face her.
“Thank you. Can you meet us for lunch at noon?”
I shot straight up in bed. “You want to do this today?”
“Why not? I miss you so much, Erin. I’m dying to see you again.” He lowered his voice. “I want you so badly.”
I closed my eyes as my belly hollowed. “Me too. OK. I’ll meet you today.”
He was quiet a second. “You’re amazing. You’re fucking amazing. Grizzly Peak on Washington, OK? Can you be there at noon?”
“Sure.” I looked at my alarm clock. I had just over an hour to get ready. And by get ready, I mean freak out. “I’ll be there.”
“See you then. And don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”
“I’m worried,” I said. “But I’ll be there.”
After we hung up, I showered and dressed, discarding a thousand articles of clothing on the floor of my closet before pulling on my usual cold-weather uniform of jeans and an oversized sweater, boot socks and brown boots. For a splash of color I added a sage green scarf, and decided on hair half-up, no jewelry. Mia and Coco would probably have laughed and told me I was putting way too much thought into this outing—I’d spent less than half this much time deciding on what to wear for dates with Charlie—but it was important to me to make the right impression. What would she think of me? Would I pass muster? Would she deem me kind enough, sane enough, smart enough, loving enough to be in her daughter’s life? She probably thought any woman crazy enough to fall for Charlie had a few screws loose. What if she didn’t like me?
At eleven o’clock, I was still fretting in front of my mirror, my hand shaking as I tried unsuccessfully to apply mascara. Oh, forget it. The less makeup the better, probably. I twisted the wand back into the tube and threw it into my makeup case.
With one final, worried glance in the mirror, I crossed my fingers and headed out.
#
On the hour-long ride to Ann Arbor, my nerves had me strung so tight, my hands were jittery. Or maybe it was the giant cup of coffee I’d drunk on the drive. Either way, my hands shook so badly I dropped my credit card twice before sliding it in the meter, and my keys once before getting them into my purse.
When I arrived at the restaurant, I saw Charlie sitting at a table with four chairs, and one of them was occupied by a dark-haired woman whose back was to me. Taking a deep breath, I walked toward them on wobbly legs. Dammit, legs, man up. I need to look confident, smart, sure of myself. This has to work.
Charlie saw me and stood up, and my steps faltered a little when he smiled at me. Damn, those eyes. Those dimples. That height. That chest. Those hands. I hadn’t seen him in so long, I had to hold myself back from sprinting to close the distance between us and throwing my arms around him (legs, too). Calm, calm, calm, I reminded myself. You can’t squeal like a teenager, you have to act like the sort of woman that a mother would trust with her child.